Refrigerator having air blower located upstream of transverse side of evaporator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator ( 100 ) is provided. The refrigerator includes: a cabinet, in which are defined a cooling chamber ( 133 ) and at least one storage compartment; an evaporator ( 150 ), arranged in the cooling chamber ( 133 ) and configured to cool an airflow entering the cooling chamber ( 133 ) to form a cooled airflow; and an air blower ( 102 ), arranged on a transverse side of the evaporator ( 150 ), located upstream of the evaporator ( 150 ) in an airflow path, and configured to cause a return airflow in the at least one storage compartment to flow into the cooling chamber ( 133 ) to be cooled by the evaporator ( 150 ), and cause at least part of the cooled airflow to flow into the at least one storage compartment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the technical field of householdappliances, and in particular to a refrigerator having an air blowerlocated upstream of a transverse side of an evaporator.

BACKGROUND ART

In an existing refrigerator, a fan for causing an airflow cooled by anevaporator to flow to a storage compartment is generally arrangeddownstream of the evaporator in a front-rear direction. The fan occupiesa space in the front-rear direction of the refrigerator, so that adistance between the rear of an evaporator chamber and a housing of acabinet is reduced, the thickness of a foamed material is reduced, andthe refrigeration performance and the energy consumption of therefrigerator are adversely affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is toprovide a refrigerator that overcomes or at least partially solves theabove problems.

A further object of the present invention is to improve the heatdissipation effect of a compressor chamber.

The present invention provides a refrigerator, including:

a cabinet, in which are defined a cooling chamber and at least onestorage compartment;

an evaporator, arranged in the cooling chamber and configured to cool anairflow entering the cooling chamber to form a cooled airflow; and

an air blower, arranged on a transverse side of the evaporator, locatedupstream of the evaporator in an airflow path, and configured to cause areturn airflow in the at least one storage compartment to flow into thecooling chamber to be cooled by the evaporator, and cause at least partof the cooled airflow to flow into the at least one storage compartment.

Optionally, the cabinet includes:

a freezing liner, in which the cooling chamber is defined at a lowerpart, the storage compartment including a freezing chamber defined bythe freezing liner and located above the cooling chamber; and

a freezing chamber air supply duct, located inside a first transverseside wall of the freezing liner and provided with at least one first airsupply outlet communicated with the freezing chamber.

The air blower is arranged in the cooling chamber, located on a secondtransverse side of the evaporator, and configured to cause at least partof the cooled airflow to flow into the freezing chamber through thefreezing chamber air supply duct.

Optionally, a freezing chamber return air inlet is formed on a secondtransverse side wall of the cooling chamber, so that a return airflow ofthe freezing chamber enters the cooling chamber through the freezingchamber return air inlet under the driving of the air blower and iscooled by the evaporator.

Optionally, the cabinet further includes:

a variable temperature liner, located above the freezing liner, thestorage compartment including a variable temperature chamber defined bythe variable temperature liner, and a variable temperature chamberreturn air inlet being formed in a region, corresponding to theevaporator, of a second transverse side wall of the freezing liner;

a variable temperature chamber air supply duct, arranged outside a firsttransverse side wall of the variable temperature liner, controllablycommunicated with the freezing chamber air supply duct through avariable temperature damper, and provided with at least one second airsupply outlet communicated with the variable temperature chamber; and

a variable temperature chamber return air duct, arranged outside asecond transverse side wall of the variable temperature liner, andextending downwards to be communicated with the variable temperaturechamber return air inlet, so that a return airflow of the variabletemperature chamber enters the cooling chamber through the variabletemperature chamber return air duct and the variable temperature chamberreturn air inlet under the driving of the air blower and is cooled bythe evaporator.

Optionally, the evaporator is transversely arranged in the coolingchamber.

Optionally, a compressor chamber is further defined in the cabinet andis located behind and below the cooling chamber.

Optionally, the refrigerator further includes:

a compressor, a heat dissipation fan and a condenser which aretransversely and sequentially arranged in the compressor chamber.

A bottom air inlet adjacent to the condenser and a bottom air outletadjacent to the compressor, which are transversely arranged, are definedon a bottom wall of the cabinet.

The heat dissipation fan is further configured to suck ambient air fromthe bottom air inlet and cause the air to pass through the condenser andthe compressor and then to flow into an ambient environment from thebottom air outlet.

Optionally, the cabinet further includes:

a bottom plate, including a bottom horizontal section located on abottom front side and a bent section bending and extending upwards andrearwards from a rear end of the bottom horizontal section, the bentsection including an inclined section located above the bottom air inletand the bottom air outlet;

a supporting plate, located behind the bottom horizontal section, thebent section extending to an upper side of the supporting plate, whereinthe supporting plate together with the bottom horizontal section formsthe bottom wall of the cabinet and is spaced apart from the bottomhorizontal section, so that a bottom opening is defined by the rear endof the bottom horizontal section and a front end of the supportingplate;

two side plates, extending upwards to both transverse sides of the bentsection from both transverse sides of the supporting plate respectivelyto form two transverse side walls of the compressor chamber; and

a vertically extending back plate, extending upwards from a rear end ofthe supporting plate to a rear end of the bent section to form a rearwall of the compressor chamber.

The compressor, the heat dissipation fan and the condenser aretransversely and sequentially spaced apart on the supporting plate andare located in a space defined by the supporting plate, the two sideplates, the back plate and the bent section.

The cabinet further includes a divider, which is arranged behind thebent section, has a front part connected to the rear end of the bottomhorizontal section and a rear part connected to the front end of thesupporting plate, and is configured to divide the bottom opening intothe bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet transversely arranged.

Optionally, the cabinet further includes:

a wind blocking strip extending forwards and rearwards, located betweenthe bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet, extending from a lowersurface of the bottom horizontal section to a lower surface of thesupporting plate, and connected to a lower end of the divider, so as tocompletely separate the bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet usingthe wind blocking strip and the divider, so that when the refrigeratoris placed on a supporting surface, a space between the bottom wall ofthe cabinet and the supporting surface is transversely divided to allowexternal air to enter the compressor chamber through the bottom airinlet on a transverse side of the wind blocking strip under the actionof the heat dissipation fan, to sequentially flow through the condenserand the compressor, and to finally flow out of the bottom air outlet onthe other transverse side of the wind blocking strip.

Optionally, a plate section of the back plate facing the condenser is acontinuous plate surface.

In the refrigerator provided by the present invention, the air blower islocated on the transverse side of the evaporator, and does not occupy aspace behind or in front of the evaporator, which reduces a spaceoccupied by the cooling chamber in a front-rear direction, and ensuresthe thickness of a foamed material between the rear of the coolingchamber and a housing of the cabinet. In addition, the air blower islocated upstream of the evaporator in the airflow path, so that the flowof the return airflow is accelerated, and the refrigerating speed can beincreased.

Furthermore, in the refrigerator provided by the present invention, alower space in the freezing liner defines the cooling chamber, thefreezing chamber is located above the cooling chamber, the compressorchamber is located at the rear lower side of the cooling chamber, andthe freezing chamber does not need to give way to the compressorchamber, so that the storage volume of the freezing chamber isincreased, and the freezing chamber is a rectangular space convenientfor placement of articles which are large in volume and are not easilydivided. In addition, the air blower is arranged on the transverse sideof the evaporator, so that the air blower is prevented from occupyingthe space behind or in front of the evaporator, the space occupied bythe cooling chamber in the front-rear direction is reduced, the spacebetween the rear of the cooling chamber and the compressor chamber isincreased, and the thickness of the foamed material between the rear ofthe cooling chamber and the compressor chamber is increased, therebyensuring the refrigeration performance of the refrigerator and reducingthe energy consumption.

Furthermore, in the refrigerator provided by the present invention, thebottom of the cabinet is constructed into a three-dimensional structureby the bottom plate and the supporting plate of a special structure, anindependent three-dimensional space is provided for the arrangement ofthe compressor, the supporting plate is used for supporting thecompressor, and the influence of vibration of the compressor on othercomponents at the bottom of the cabinet is reduced. In addition, a slopestructure of the inclined section is capable of guiding and rectifyingfeeding airflow, so that the airflow entering from the bottom air inletflows more concentratedly to the condenser, avoiding that the airflow istoo dispersed to pass more through the condenser, thereby furtherensuring the heat dissipation effect of the condenser. Moreover, thecabinet is designed into the above smart special structure, so that thebottom of the refrigerator is compact in structure and reasonable inlayout, the overall volume of the refrigerator is reduced, the space atthe bottom of the refrigerator is fully utilized, and the heatdissipation efficiency of the compressor and the condenser is ensured.

The above, as well as other objectives, advantages, and characteristicsof the present invention, will be better understood by those skilled inthe art according to the following detailed description of specificembodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following part, some specific embodiments of the presentinvention will be described in detail in an exemplary rather thanlimited manner with reference to the accompanying drawings. The samereference numerals in the accompanying drawings indicate the same orsimilar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understandthat these accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Infigures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structure view of one direction of a refrigeratoraccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structure view of another direction of arefrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view of a refrigerator according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded schematic view of a refrigerator accordingto one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a housing of a refrigerator according toone embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a region A in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present embodiment first provides a refrigerator 100. Therefrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. In the followingdescription, an orientation or position relationship indicated by“front”, “rear”, “upper”, “lower” and the like is an orientation basedon the refrigerator 100 as a reference, and “front” and “rear” aredirections as indicated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 2,“transverse” refers to a direction parallel to a width direction of therefrigerator 100.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structure view of one direction of a refrigerator100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is aschematic structure view of another direction of a refrigerator 100according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 100 may generally include a cabinetwhich includes a housing and a storage liner arranged inside thehousing. A space between the housing and the storage liner is filledwith a thermal insulation material (forming a foamed layer). At leastone storage compartment is defined in the storage liner. The storageliner may generally include a freezing liner 130, a refrigerating linerand a variable temperature liner. The storage compartment may include arefrigerating chamber 11 defined by the refrigerating liner, a variabletemperature chamber 121 defined by the variable temperature liner, and afreezing chamber 131 defined by the freezing liner 130. A front side ofthe storage liner is also provided with a door body for opening orclosing the storage compartment. For example, a front side of therefrigerating liner is provided with a refrigerating chamber door body12, a front side of the variable temperature liner is provided with avariable temperature chamber door body 122, and a front side of thefreezing liner 130 is provided with a freezing chamber door body 132.

A plurality of storage containers 1311 distributed vertically arearranged in the freezing chamber 131. As shown in FIG. 1, three storagecontainers 1311 are distributed vertically.

As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the refrigerator 100of the present embodiment may further include an evaporator 150, an airblower 102, a compressor 104, a condenser 105 and a throttling element(not shown). The evaporator 150 is located in a cooling chamber 133 andis connected to the compressor 104, the condenser 105 and the throttlingelement via a refrigerant pipeline to form a refrigeration cycle loop.The evaporator reduces the temperature to cool air flowing therethroughto form a cooled airflow when the compressor 104 is started. The airblower 102 may be a centrifugal fan, a cross-flow fan, or an axial-flowfan.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the air blower 102 is locatedon a transverse side of the evaporator 150, located upstream of theevaporator 150 in an airflow path, and configured to cause a returnairflow in the at least one storage compartment to flow into the coolingchamber 133 to be cooled by the evaporator 150, and cause part of thecooled airflow to flow into the at least one storage compartment.

In the refrigerator 100 of the present embodiment, the air blower 102 islocated on the transverse side of the evaporator 150, and does notoccupy a space behind or in front of the evaporator 150, which reduces aspace occupied by the cooling chamber 133 in a front-rear direction, andensures the thickness of a foamed material between the rear of thecooling chamber 133 and a housing of the cabinet.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the cooling chamber 133 may bedefined by a lowermost space in the freezing liner 130. That is, theaforementioned cooling chamber 133 is defined at a lower part in thefreezing liner 130, and the freezing chamber 131 defined by the freezingliner 130 is located above the cooling chamber 133.

The air blower 102 is arranged in the cooling chamber 133, located on asecond transverse side of the evaporator 150, and configured to cause atleast part of the cooled airflow to flow into the freezing chamber 131through a freezing chamber air supply duct 160.

In the conventional refrigerator 100, the cooling chamber 133 isgenerally located in a rear space of the cabinet, the freezing chamber131 is generally located on the lowermost side of the cabinet, acompressor chamber is located on the rear of the freezing chamber 131,and the freezing chamber 131 is inevitably constructed as aspecial-shaped space giving way to the compressor chamber, therebyreducing the storage volume of the freezing chamber 131, and alsocausing the following problems. On one hand, the freezing chamber 131 islocated at a lower position, and a user needs to bend or squat greatlyto take and place articles in the freezing chamber 131, so it isinconvenient for the user, particularly for the elderly. On the otherhand, since the depth of the freezing chamber 131 is reduced, in orderto ensure the storage volume of the freezing chamber 131, the space in aheight direction of the freezing chamber 131 needs to be increased, anda user needs to stack articles in the height direction when storing thearticles into the freezing chamber 131; thus, it is inconvenient for theuser to find the articles, and the articles at the bottom of thefreezing chamber 131 are easily shielded, so that the user cannot easilyfind and forget the articles, resulting in deterioration and wasting ofthe articles. Moreover, since the freezing chamber 131 has a specialshape and is not a rectangular space, it is inconvenient to place somearticles which are large in volume and are not easily divided into thefreezing chamber 131.

In the present embodiment, the lower space in the freezing liner 130defines the cooling chamber 133, so that the cooling chamber 133occupies the lower space in the cabinet. That is, the cooling chamber133 is arranged at the bottom. The freezing chamber 131 is located abovethe cooling chamber 133, so that the freezing chamber 131 is raised, thebending degree of a user when taking and placing articles in thefreezing chamber 131 is reduced, and the use experience of the user isimproved. Meanwhile, the cabinet may define the compressor chamber onthe rear lower side of the cooling chamber 133. That is, the compressorchamber is located on the rear lower side of the cooling chamber 133,the freezing chamber 131 does not need to give way to the compressorchamber any more, and the storage volume of the freezing chamber 131 isensured, so that the freezing chamber 131 is a rectangular space. Thus,articles can be stored in a tiled expansion storage manner instead of astacked storage manner and can be conveniently searched by a user, sothat the time and energy of the user are saved. Meanwhile, articleswhich are large in volume and are not easily divided can be convenientlyplaced, and the problem that a large article cannot be placed in thefreezing chamber 131 is solved.

With regard to the embodiment in which the cooling chamber 133 islocated in the lower space in the cabinet and the compressor chamber islocated on the rear lower side of the cooling chamber 133, the thicknessof the foamed material between the rear lower side of the coolingchamber 133 and the compressor chamber directly affects therefrigeration performance of the refrigerator. In the patent previouslyfiled by the applicants, the air blower 102 is arranged on the rear ofthe evaporator 150, which increases the size of the cooling chamber 133in the front-rear direction. The space between the rear lower side ofthe cooling chamber 133 and the compressor chamber is small, so that thethickness of the foamed material between the cooling chamber 133 and thecompressor chamber is reduced, and certain influences are exerted on therefrigeration performance, energy consumption and the like of therefrigerator 100.

However, in the present embodiment, the applicants adjusted the positionof the air blower 102. The air blower 102 is arranged on the transverseside of the evaporator 150, so that the air blower 102 is prevented fromoccupying the space behind or in front of the evaporator 150, the spaceoccupied by the cooling chamber 133 in the front-rear direction isreduced, the space between the rear lower side of the cooling chamber133 and the compressor chamber is increased, and the thickness of thefoamed material between the rear of the cooling chamber 133 and thecompressor chamber is increased, thereby ensuring the refrigerationperformance of the refrigerator 100 and reducing the energy consumption.

Since the air blower 102 is located on the second transverse side of theevaporator 150, the freezing chamber air supply duct 160 may be locatedinside a first transverse side wall of the freezing liner 130accordingly and provided with at least one first air supply outlet 160 acommunicated with the freezing chamber 131. The air blower 102 isconfigured to cause at least part of the cooled airflow to flow to thefreezing chamber 131 through the freezing chamber air supply duct 160.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view of a refrigerator 100 according toone embodiment of the present invention.

The refrigerator 100 further includes a casing (not shown) arranged inthe freezing liner 130. The casing covers the evaporator 150. Thecooling chamber 133 is defined by the casing and a bottom wall of thefreezing liner 130. A side air outlet 134 b communicated with an airinlet of the freezing chamber air supply duct 160 is formed on a firsttransverse side wall of the casing.

The evaporator 150 as a whole may be transversely arranged in thecooling chamber in the shape of a flat cube. That is, a length-widthsurface of the evaporator 150 is parallel to a horizontal plane, athickness surface of the evaporator is perpendicular to the horizontalplane, and the thickness size of the evaporator 150 is significantlysmaller than the length size thereof. By arranging the evaporator 150transversely in the cooling chamber 133, the evaporator 150 is preventedfrom occupying more space, and the storage volume of the freezingchamber 131 above the cooling chamber 133 is ensured.

As shown in FIG. 1, a freezing chamber return air inlet 134 a is formedon a second transverse side wall of the cooling chamber 133 (i.e. asecond transverse side wall of the casing), so that a return airflow ofthe freezing chamber 131 enters the cooling chamber 133 through afreezing chamber return air passage 170 via the freezing chamber returnair inlet 134 a under the driving of the air blower 102 and is cooled bythe evaporator 150. The freezing chamber return air passage 170 isdefined by a gap between a second transverse side wall of the freezingliner 130 and the storage containers 1311.

As shown in FIG. 1, the freezing chamber return air inlet 134 a formedby the second transverse side wall of the cooling chamber 133 (i.e., thesecond transverse side wall of the casing) and the side air outlet 134 bformed by the first transverse side wall of the casing are staggered, sothat the return airflow entering the cooling chamber 133 from thefreezing chamber return air inlet 134 a passes through the evaporator150, and flows into the freezing chamber air supply duct 160 from theside air outlet 134 b after being cooled by the evaporator 150. Withrespect to the freezing chamber air supply duct 160, the air blower 102is adjacent to the freezing chamber return air inlet 134 a. That is, theair blower 102 is located upstream of the evaporator 150 in the airflowpath, i.e., on the second transverse side of the evaporator 150, andspecifically, between an end face of the second transverse side of theevaporator 150 and the freezing chamber return air inlet 134 a.

In the patent previously filed by the applicants, a front return airinlet communicated with the freezing chamber 131 is formed on a frontside of the cooling chamber 133 (i.e., a front wall of the casing).External impurities are easily introduced into the cooling chamber 133through the front return air inlet, and melted frost may flow out of thefront return air inlet during defrosting of the evaporator 150. Inaddition, when the freezing chamber door body 132 is opened, a largeamount of warm moisture may enter the cooling chamber 133 from the frontreturn air inlet, increasing the frosting amount. However, in thepresent embodiment, by arranging the air blower 102 on the transverseside (e.g., the second transverse side) of the evaporator 150 andforming the freezing chamber return air inlet 134 a communicated withthe freezing chamber 131 on the second transverse side wall of thecooling chamber 133, the above problems can be effectively solved, theappearance of the front side of the cooling chamber 133 can be madesimpler, and the visual feeling when a user opens the freezing chamberdoor body 132 can be better.

The variable temperature liner of the refrigerator 100 is located abovethe freezing liner 130. A variable temperature chamber air supply ductis arranged outside a first transverse side wall of the variabletemperature liner, located in a foamed layer, and provided with at leastone second air supply outlet communicated with the variable temperaturechamber 121. A top end of the freezing chamber air supply duct 160 isprovided with a variable temperature damper 103, and the variabletemperature damper 103 may be controllably opened or closed tocommunicate the variable temperature chamber air supply duct with thefreezing chamber air supply duct 160.

As shown in FIG. 3, a variable temperature chamber return air inlet 130c is formed in a region, corresponding to the evaporator 150, of thesecond transverse side wall 1301 of the freezing liner 130, and avariable temperature chamber return air duct is arranged outside asecond transverse side wall of the variable temperature liner andextends downwards to be communicated with the variable temperaturechamber return air inlet 130 c.

Obviously, the second transverse side wall of the cooling chamber 133(i.e., the second transverse side wall of the casing) and the secondtransverse side wall of the freezing liner 130 are located on the sametransverse side, and accordingly, the variable temperature chamberreturn air inlet 130 c and the freezing chamber return air inlet 134 aare located on the same transverse side. A return airflow enteringthrough the variable temperature chamber return air inlet 130 c entersthe cooling chamber 133 through the freezing chamber return air inlet134 a and is cooled by the evaporator 150. Specifically, under thedriving of the air blower 102, the return airflow of the variabletemperature chamber 121 flows to the variable temperature chamber returnair inlet 130 c through the variable temperature chamber return airduct, enters the cooling chamber 133 through the variable temperaturechamber return air inlet 130 c and the freezing chamber return air inlet134 a and is cooled by the evaporator 150.

The freezing chamber 131 and the variable temperature chamber 121 aboveare both air-cooled, and the refrigerating chamber 11 may be directlycooled. A refrigerating evaporator (not shown) is disposed in therefrigerating liner, and directly cools the refrigerating chamber 11.

A section of the bottom wall of the freezing liner 130 directly belowthe evaporator 150 is denoted as a water receiving section, which isgenerally funnel-shaped and configured to receive the melted frost ofthe evaporator 150. The aforementioned water drainage outlet 130 b isformed at the lowest point of the water receiving section. The waterdrainage outlet 130 b is connected with a water drainage pipe 140. Themelted frost is conveyed to an evaporation dish (not numbered) locatedin the compressor chamber through the water drainage pipe 140. Theevaporation dish is generally located below the condenser 105. Themelted frost in the evaporation dish absorbs heat from the condenser 105to evaporate.

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of a refrigerator 100 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of ahousing of a refrigerator 100 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a region A in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, the compressor 104, the condenser 105 and the heatdissipation fan 106 are disposed in the compressor chamber defined inthe cabinet. The heat dissipation fan 106 is configured to cause anairflow entering the compressor chamber to pass sequentially through thecondenser 105 and the compressor 104 and then to flow out of thecompressor chamber. The heat dissipation fan 106 may be an axial-flowfan. In the present embodiment, the compressor 104, the heat dissipationfan 106 and the condenser 105 are transversely and sequentially spacedapart in the compressor chamber.

In some embodiments, at least one rear air outlet 1162 a is formed in asection 1162 of a rear wall of the compressor chamber corresponding tothe compressor 104.

In fact, prior to the present invention, a common design idea for thoseskilled in the art is to provide a rear air inlet facing the condenser105 and the rear air outlet 1162 a facing the compressor 104 in the rearwall of the compressor chamber, and to complete the cycle of a heatdissipation airflow at the rear of the compressor chamber; or to formventilation holes in the front and rear walls of the compressor chamberrespectively to form a heat dissipation cycle air passage in thefront-rear direction. For the problem of improving the heat dissipationeffect of the compressor chamber, those skilled in the art generallyincrease the number of rear air inlets and rear air outlets 1162 a inthe rear wall of the compressor chamber to increase the ventilationarea, or increase the heat exchange area of the condenser 105, forexample, using a U-shaped condenser with a larger heat exchange area.

The applicants of the present invention creatively realized that theheat exchange area of the condenser 105 and the ventilation area of thecompressor chamber are not as larger as better, and in a conventionaldesign scheme for increasing the heat exchange area of the condenser 105and the ventilation area of the compressor chamber, the problem ofnon-uniform heat dissipation of the condenser 105 is caused, and adverseeffects are generated on a refrigerating system of the refrigerator 100.To this end, the applicants of the present invention jumped out of theconventional design idea and creatively proposed a new scheme differentfrom the conventional design. A bottom wall of the cabinet is definedwith a bottom air inlet 110 a adjacent to the condenser 105 and a bottomair outlet 110 b adjacent to the compressor 104 which are transverselyarranged. The cycle of the heat dissipation airflow is completed at thebottom of the refrigerator 100, the space between the refrigerator 100and a supporting surface is fully utilized, the distance between therear wall of the refrigerator 100 and a cupboard does not need to beincreased, the space occupied by the refrigerator 100 is reduced whileheat from the compressor chamber can be well dissipated, the problemthat the heat dissipation of the compressor chamber and the spaceoccupation of a built-in refrigerator 100 cannot be balanced isfundamentally solved, and the present invention is of particularlyimportant significance.

The heat dissipation fan 106 is configured to cause ambient air aroundthe bottom air inlet 110 a to enter the compressor chamber from thebottom air inlet 110 a, to sequentially pass through the condenser 105and the compressor 104, and then to flow from the bottom air outlet 110b to an external environment so as to dissipate heat from the compressor104 and the condenser 105.

In a vapor compression refrigeration cycle, the surface temperature ofthe condenser 105 is generally lower than that of the compressor 104, sothe external air is made to cool the condenser 105 first and then coolthe compressor 104 in the process above.

Furthermore particularly, in a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a plate section 1161 of a back plate 116 (the rear wall ofthe compressor chamber) facing the condenser 105 is a continuous platesurface. That is, the plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 facingthe condenser 105 has no heat dissipation holes.

The applicants of the present invention creatively realized that even ifthe heat exchange area of the condenser 105 is not increased, a betterheat dissipation airflow path can be formed by reducing the ventilationarea of the compressor chamber abnormally, and a better heat dissipationeffect can still be achieved.

In a preferred scheme of the present invention, the applicants brokethrough the conventional design idea. The plate section 1161 of the rearwall (back plate 116) of the compressor chamber corresponding to thecondenser 105 is designed to be the continuous plate surface, and theheat dissipation airflow entering the compressor chamber is sealed atthe condenser 105, so that the ambient air entering from the bottom airinlet 110 a is more concentrated at the condenser 105, thereby ensuringthe heat exchange uniformity of each condensation section of thecondenser 105, favorably forming a better heat dissipation airflow path,and achieving a better heat dissipation effect as well.

Moreover, the plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 facing thecondenser 105 is the continuous plate surface and is not provided withthe air inlet, so that the problems that in conventional design, airexhaust and air feeding are both concentrated at the rear part of thecompressor chamber, which causes that the hot air blown from thecompressor chamber enters the compressor chamber again without beingcooled by the ambient air in time, causing adverse effects on heatexchange of the condenser 105 are avoided, and thus the heat exchangeefficiency of the condenser 105 is ensured.

In some embodiments, both transverse side walls of the compressorchamber are separately provided with a side ventilation hole 119 a. Theside ventilation hole 119 a may be covered with a ventilation coverplate 108. Small grilled ventilation holes are formed in the ventilationcover plate 108. The housing of the refrigerator 100 includes twocabinet side plates 111 in a transverse direction. The two cabinet sideplates 111 extend vertically to form two side walls of the refrigerator100. The two cabinet side plates 111 are respectively provided with aside opening 111 a communicated with the corresponding side ventilationhole 119 a so that the heat dissipation airflow flows to the outside ofthe refrigerator 100. Therefore, the heat dissipation path is furtherincreased, and the heat dissipation effect of the compressor chamber isensured.

Furthermore particularly, the condenser 105 includes a first straightsection 1051 extending transversely, a second straight section 1052extending forwards and rearwards, and a transitional curved section (notnumbered) connecting the first straight section 1051 and the secondstraight section 1052, thereby forming an L-shaped condenser 105 havingan appropriate heat exchange area. The plate section 1161 of the rearwall (back plate 116) of the aforementioned compressor chambercorresponding to the condenser 105 is the plate section 1161 of the backplate 116 facing the first straight section 1051.

The ambient airflow entering from the side ventilation hole 119 adirectly exchanges heat with the second straight section 1052, and theambient air entering from the bottom air inlet 110 a directly exchangesheat with the first straight section 1051, thereby further concentratingthe ambient air entering the compressor chamber more at the condenser105 to ensure the uniformity of the overall heat dissipation of thecondenser 105.

Furthermore particularly, the housing of the cabinet further includes abottom plate, a supporting plate 112, two side plates 119 and avertically extending back plate 116. The supporting plate 112 forms abottom wall of the compressor chamber and is configured to support thecompressor 104, the heat dissipation fan 106 and the condenser 105. Thetwo side plates 119 form two transverse side walls of the compressorchamber respectively. The vertically extending back plate 116 forms therear wall of the compressor chamber.

Furthermore particularly, the bottom plate includes a bottom horizontalsection 113 located on a bottom front side and a bent section bendingand extending upwards and rearwards from a rear end of the bottomhorizontal section 113. The bent section extends to the upper side ofthe supporting plate 112. The compressor 104, the heat dissipation fan106 and the condenser 105 are transversely and sequentially spaced aparton the supporting plate 112 and are located in a space defined by thesupporting plate 112, the two side plates 119, the back plate and thebent section.

The supporting plate 112 and the bottom horizontal section 113 togetherform the bottom wall of the cabinet, and the supporting plate 112 isspaced apart from the bottom horizontal section 113 to form a bottomopening communicated with an external space using a space between afront end of the supporting plate 112 and a rear end of the bottomhorizontal section 113. The bent section has an inclined section 114located above the bottom air inlet 110 a and the bottom air outlet 110b.

Specifically, the bent section may include a vertical section 1131, theaforementioned inclined section 114 and a top horizontal section 115.The vertical section 1131 extends upwards from the rear end of thebottom horizontal section 113. The inclined section 114 extends upwardsand rearwards from an upper end of the vertical section 1131 to theupper side of the supporting plate 112. The top horizontal section 115extends rearwards from a rear end of the inclined section 114 to theback plate, so as to cover the upper sides of the compressor 104, theheat dissipation fan 106 and the condenser 105.

Furthermore particularly, the refrigerator 100 further includes adivider 117. The divider 117 is arranged behind the bent section, has afront part connected to the rear end of the bottom horizontal section113 and a rear part connected to the front end of the supporting plate112, and is configured to divide the bottom opening into the bottom airinlet 110 a and the bottom air outlet 110 b transversely arranged.

It can be known from the foregoing that the bottom air inlet 110 a andthe bottom air outlet 110 b of the present embodiment are defined by thedivider 117, the supporting plate 112 and the bottom horizontal section113, so that the groove-shaped bottom air inlet 110 a and thegroove-shaped bottom air outlet 110 b with large opening sizes areformed, the air feeding area and the air exhaust area are increased, theair feeding resistance is reduced, making the circulation of airflowsmoother, the manufacturing process is simpler, and the integralstability of the compressor chamber is stronger.

In particular, the applicants of the present invention creativelyrealized that a slope structure of the inclined section 114 is capableof guiding and rectifying feeding airflow, so that the airflow enteringfrom the bottom air inlet 110 a flows more concentratedly to thecondenser 105, avoiding that the airflow is too dispersed to pass morethrough the condenser 105, thereby further ensuring the heat dissipationeffect of the condenser 105. Meanwhile, the slope of the inclinedsection 114 guides exhaust airflow from the bottom air outlet 110 b tothe front side of the bottom air outlet, so that the exhaust airflowflows out of the compressor chamber more smoothly, and thus thesmoothness of airflow circulation is further improved.

Furthermore particularly, in a preferred embodiment, the inclinedsection 114 has an included angle of less than 45° with the horizontalplane, and in such embodiment, the inclined section 114 is better inairflow guiding and rectifying effect.

Moreover, it is unexpected that the applicants of the presentapplication creatively realized that the slope of the inclined section114 provides a better dampening effect on airflow noise, and inprototype tests, noise of the compressor chamber with the aforementionedspecially designed inclined section 114 can be reduced by 0.65 decibelor above.

In addition, in the conventional refrigerator 100, the bottom of thecabinet generally has a bearing plate of a substantially flat plate typestructure. The compressor 104 is arranged inside the bearing plate, andvibration generated during operation of the compressor 104 has a greatinfluence on the bottom of the cabinet. However, in the presentembodiment, as described above, the bottom of the cabinet is constructedinto a three-dimensional structure by the bottom plate and thesupporting plate 112 of a special structure, an independentthree-dimensional space is provided for the arrangement of thecompressor 104, the supporting plate 112 is used for supporting thecompressor 104, and the influence of vibration of the compressor 104 onother components at the bottom of the cabinet is reduced. In addition,the cabinet is designed into the above smart special structure, so thatthe bottom of the refrigerator 100 is compact in structure andreasonable in layout, the overall volume of the refrigerator 100 isreduced, the space at the bottom of the refrigerator 100 is fullyutilized, and the heat dissipation efficiency of the compressor 104 andthe condenser 105 is ensured.

Furthermore particularly, a wind blocking piece 1056 is arranged at theupper end of the condenser 105. The wind blocking piece 1056 may be windblocking sponge for filling a space between the upper end of thecondenser 105 and the bent section. That is, the wind blocking piece1056 covers the upper ends of the first straight section 1051, thesecond straight section 1052 and the transitional curved section, andthe upper end of the wind blocking piece 1056 should abut against thebent section to seal the upper end of the condenser 105, so that thesituation that part of the air entering the compressor chamber passesthrough the space between the upper end of the condenser 105 and thebent section and does not pass through the condenser 105 is avoided,thus the air entering the compressor chamber is subjected to heatexchange through the condenser 105 as much as possible, and the heatdissipation effect of the condenser 105 is further improved.

Furthermore particularly, the refrigerator 100 further includes a windblocking strip 107 extending forwards and rearwards. The wind blockingstrip 107 is located between the bottom air inlet 110 a and the bottomair outlet 110 b, extends from a lower surface of the bottom horizontalsection 113 to a lower surface of the supporting plate 112, and isconnected to a lower end of the divider 117, so as to completelyseparate the bottom air inlet 110 a and the bottom air outlet 110 busing the wind blocking strip 107 and divider 117, so that when therefrigerator 100 is placed on a supporting surface, a space between thebottom wall of the cabinet and the supporting surface is transverselydivided to allow external air to enter the compressor chamber throughthe bottom air inlet 110 a on a transverse side of the wind blockingstrip 107 under the action of the heat dissipation fan, to sequentiallyflow through the condenser 105 and the compressor 104, and to finallyflow out of the bottom air outlet 110 b on the other transverse side ofthe wind blocking strip 107. Thus, the bottom air inlet 110 a and thebottom air outlet 110 b are completely separated, and cross flowing ofthe external air entering the condenser 105 and the heat dissipation airdischarged from the compressor 104 is avoided, thereby further ensuringthe heat dissipation efficiency.

Hereto, those skilled in the art should realize that although aplurality of exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described in detail herein, without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention, many other variations ormodifications that conform to the principles of the present inventioncan still be directly determined or deduced from contents disclosed inthe present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present inventionshould be understood and recognized as covering all these othervariations or modifications.

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a cabinet, in which are defined a cooling chamber and at least one storage compartment; an evaporator, arranged in the cooling chamber and configured to cool an airflow entering the cooling chamber to form a cooled airflow; and an air blower, arranged on a transverse side of the evaporator, located upstream of the evaporator in an airflow path, and configured to cause a return airflow in the at least one storage compartment to flow into the cooling chamber to be cooled by the evaporator, and cause at least part of the cooled airflow to flow into the at least one storage compartment.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the cabinet comprises: a freezing liner, in which the cooling chamber is defined at a lower part, the storage compartment comprising a freezing chamber defined by the freezing liner and located above the cooling chamber; and a freezing chamber air supply duct, located inside a first transverse side wall of the freezing liner and provided with at least one first air supply outlet communicated with the freezing chamber, wherein the air blower is arranged in the cooling chamber, located on a second transverse side of the evaporator, and configured to cause at least part of the cooled airflow to flow into the freezing chamber through the freezing chamber air supply duct.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein a freezing chamber return air inlet is formed on a second transverse side wall of the cooling chamber, so that a return airflow of the freezing chamber enters the cooling chamber through the freezing chamber return air inlet under the driving of the air blower and is cooled by the evaporator.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the cabinet further comprises: a variable temperature liner, located above the freezing liner, the storage compartment comprising a variable temperature chamber defined by the variable temperature liner, and a variable temperature chamber return air inlet being formed in a region, corresponding to the evaporator, of a second transverse side wall of the freezing liner; a variable temperature chamber air supply duct, arranged outside a first transverse side wall of the variable temperature liner, controllably communicated with the freezing chamber air supply duct through a variable temperature damper, and provided with at least one second air supply outlet communicated with the variable temperature chamber; and a variable temperature chamber return air duct, arranged outside a second transverse side wall of the variable temperature liner, and extending downwards to be communicated with the variable temperature chamber return air inlet, so that a return airflow of the variable temperature chamber enters the cooling chamber through the variable temperature chamber return air duct and the variable temperature chamber return air inlet under the driving of the air blower and is cooled by the evaporator.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is transversely arranged in the cooling chamber.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a compressor chamber is further defined in the cabinet and is located behind and below the cooling chamber.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, further comprising: a compressor, a heat dissipation fan and a condenser which are transversely and sequentially arranged in the compressor chamber, wherein a bottom air inlet adjacent to the condenser and a bottom air outlet adjacent to the compressor, which are transversely arranged, are defined on a bottom wall of the cabinet; and the heat dissipation fan is further configured to suck ambient air from the bottom air inlet and cause the air to pass through the condenser and the compressor and then to flow into an ambient environment from the bottom air outlet.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the cabinet further comprises: a bottom plate, comprising a bottom horizontal section located on a bottom front side and a bent section bending and extending upwards and rearwards from a rear end of the bottom horizontal section, the bent section comprising an inclined section located above the bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet; a supporting plate, located behind the bottom horizontal section, the bent section extending to an upper side of the supporting plate, wherein the supporting plate together with the bottom horizontal section forms the bottom wall of the cabinet and is spaced apart from the bottom horizontal section, so that a bottom opening is defined by the rear end of the bottom horizontal section and a front end of the supporting plate; two side plates, extending upwards to both transverse sides of the bent section from both transverse sides of the supporting plate respectively to form two transverse side walls of the compressor chamber; and a vertically extending back plate, extending upwards from a rear end of the supporting plate to a rear end of the bent section to form a rear wall of the compressor chamber, wherein the compressor, the heat dissipation fan and the condenser are transversely and sequentially spaced apart on the supporting plate and are located in a space defined by the supporting plate, the two side plates, the back plate and the bent section; and the cabinet further comprises a divider, which is arranged behind the bent section, has a front part connected to the rear end of the bottom horizontal section and a rear part connected to the front end of the supporting plate, and is configured to divide the bottom opening into the bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet transversely arranged.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the cabinet further comprises: a wind blocking strip extending forwards and rearwards, located between the bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet, extending from a lower surface of the bottom horizontal section to a lower surface of the supporting plate, and connected to a lower end of the divider, so as to completely separate the bottom air inlet and the bottom air outlet using the wind blocking strip and the divider, so that when the refrigerator is placed on a supporting surface, a space between the bottom wall of the cabinet and the supporting surface is transversely divided to allow external air to enter the compressor chamber through the bottom air inlet on a transverse side of the wind blocking strip under the action of the heat dissipation fan, to sequentially flow through the condenser and the compressor, and to finally flow out of the bottom air outlet on the other transverse side of the wind blocking strip.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein a plate section of the back plate facing the condenser is a continuous plate surface. 